Goswin Schwendinger
Eucalyptus Phase Zero, 2024
Goswin was invited to conceive and present an impromptu solo intervention within the gardens of QBHQ, a project space situated in Hackney, London. This site-responsive installation continues his ongoing exploration of material ecologies and postcolonial narratives through the recurring use of eucalyptus bark—a material that has become emblematic within his practice.
Originating from Australia, the eucalyptus tree is known for its distinctive exfoliating bark, which it sheds cyclically throughout its life span. This natural process of renewal, decay, and transformation resonates deeply with Goswin’s conceptual interests, particularly in relation to themes of impermanence, regeneration, and the layered temporality of organic matter.
Simultaneously, the artist engages critically with the tree’s colonial legacy. Widely exported and introduced into non-native landscapes during imperial expansion, eucalyptus has often disrupted local ecologies—its high water consumption contributing to drought conditions and soil degradation. Goswin harnesses these problematic histories, embedding them within his sculptural language to interrogate the environmental and geopolitical consequences of displacement and forced adaptation.
In this new iteration, the eucalyptus functions both materially and symbolically—at once a tactile remnant of natural cycles and a charged signifier of colonial imposition. The work thus oscillates between poetic gesture and pointed critique, situating itself within a broader discourse on landscape, trauma, and the politics of growth.